The Second Beginning
by snusnu95
Summary: Sara and Scott both have their stories; and they both feel a variety of emotions as they prepare to leave for Andromeda for their second beginning. Sara struggles to let go of her love, while Scott wants to step out of his father's shadow and make a name for himself. This is an Andromeda fic; and FFnet doesn't have the characters to tag just yet! Soon hopefully!
1. Sara's POV

**_I had an idea; wrote it down and it's the best piece of writing I've done for a while. I know this is for a game that isn't out yet, but, I wanted my Ryder's to have their own personal backstories. I'm planning to play Sara but I still want Scott to be fleshed out, and for me this is how I envision the twins to be. Hope everyone enjoys!_**

 ** _There is femslash in this fic!_**

 ** _2185  
Milky Way Galaxy_**

 **Sara Ryder**

She couldn't quite believe that she would never be coming back here.

Sara Ryder strolled through the Zakera ward of the Citadel; glancing up at shop signs, her eyes flickering to different people from varying different species. Two krogan trying to dispel the rumour of whether fish lived in the presidium (spoiler: they didn't, but she wasn't about to tell an angry krogan that); a couple of salarians mulling over their latest game; along with humans, turians, asari, hanar, elcor, volus and the occasional quarian or drell. She had seen a turquoise coloured drell pass her this morning, the young man looking awfully concerned about something.

Yet, she would see none of this again. The Citadel was her home, for lack of a better word. She, and her twin brother Scott, were born and raised here. Albeit, they moved around a lot due to their father's work but somehow the both of them always seemed to end up back on the Citadel.

Everything she had learnt, everything was going to be put to the test when they left for Andromeda. Granted, she didn't even know if she was going to make it. Cryostasis was largely untested; but Sara remained hopeful she, her brother, her father and the other 20,000 humans would wake up alive and well. Alive and well in a galaxy very, _very_ far away 600 years from now. The thought frightened her; 600 years.

How many people would be alive in 600 years' time? The salarians still adamantly bickering about their game surely wouldn't be; they'd be gone within 30 years tops. The krogan? Depending on how old they were there was a possibility they would be. But, other than the krogan or asari, no one here would be alive in 600 years' time. When she awoke to live the rest of her days, these people would all be gone.

Would there be ancient civilisations to study? She was sure there would be; but that had been her passion. She had been accepted to study prothean ruins to divulge more secrets about the mysterious race. Sara gritted her teeth; it all seemed like a waste now. She had plethora of useless knowledge about a dead race that wasn't relevant where she was going.

She approached the skycars, gripping the railing to contain her emotion. To prepare for this she had seen numerous psychiatrists whom had deemed her in excellent mental health for this journey. And yes, she knew she was excited. While her father was gallivanting around looking for a place to live, she wanted to set off and make her own investigations about what the galaxy held. Those mysterious would be discoveries for her species.

As the days drew closer to departure, she was becoming more reluctant. It took a very brave soul to venture into the complete unknown; and she didn't know if she was going to be able to do this. But backing out now would create too many problems, especially for her father and brother who were both going along. But she knew she had someone to tell; someone's heart to break.

Speaking of her brother, out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar brown-haired man approach her, a grin on his face, "Whaddya know, it's my favourite sister!" he play punched her on the arm, "flight went well?"

"I'm your only sister you dork," Sara rolled her eyes, a grin coming to her face, "and yeah, quite well. It upset me to leave the team though, they've looked after me."

"Actually you're the dork," Scott teased, but regained his composure, "but I know what you mean. Sort of," he grimaced.

"Do you reckon this is the right thing?" the anxiety perking in her voice.

Scott took his time in answering, "I think so. I've always watched people coming and going on their own adventures; I want one of my own. We'll go down in history sis!"

"I guess," Sara shrugged, looking around once more.

"Why exactly are you hanging in Zakera anyway?" Scott pressed.

"Oh, I'm meeting….y'know."

"Ah," Scott nodded in recognition, "well, I'll leave you to it I guess? Afterward we can get shitfaced?"

"Sounds good," she gave her a brother a quick hug before he set off again. She watched him go, and saw him wink at a gaggle of young turian females. Sara rolled her eyes before leaning on the railing. She had to meet Goya; she needed to explain everything to her.

 _Goya_. Even as she thought about Goya, she couldn't help but feel a sense of bliss even amongst the sadness. Sara was sixteen when she had met Goya; Sara was a fresh faced, carefree teenager who had developed a rebellious streak. Making out with women in dark corners of the Citadel, underage drinking of ryncol with young krogans, that kind of trash. She had rebelled against her father's tight regime, but after a long chat he eventually loosened the reins and she stopped acting like a moron.

And that's when she had met Goya.

Goya D'Szale; a 184 year old asari maiden, at the time, had crossed her path as she was attempting to get her life back in order. The gentleness of the asari had her in awe; from her aqua skin, to her soft facial markings that accentuated her violet eyes; Sara was star struck from day dot.

Goya herself was experimenting in a galaxy that offered a wealth of opportunities for a young asari. She had come to the citadel to have a fresh start, away from her controlling mother and conservative turian father.

And they had grown attached; attached to the point that the only person she made out with in the dark corners of the citadel was Goya; and Goya had been the one to take her virginity. The two of them had entered a relationship without either of them exactly wanting it – it just happened. When Sara had been appointed to travel with a group studying prothean ruins within the Alliance, in which it had been Goya to spike her interest in that particular field (although Goya wanted to study history of current living races); it had strained their relationship.

Yet despite the long distance; the two of them could always make it work. Sara loved Goya with all of her heart; and today she was going to do the unthinkable. She was kicking herself for leaving it this late, but she wanted to do it in person, and she was trying to delay this for as long as possible. Sara wondered if she would ever find love again. She doubted there was a race of attractive blue babes in Andromeda, but alas, they would not be Goya.

She spotted Goya before Goya saw her; and even now the sight of her stole Sara's breath. She was dressed in a traditional asari formal outfit, the colours going nicely with the colour of her skin. She was every bit as beautiful as before, perhaps even more so. Sara looked down at herself; back cargo pants and an Andromeda Initiative hoodie; yeah, she was the real ambassador for style.

Goya's violet eyes met Sara's blue ones, and Goya smiled as she floated over; "My darling," she chimed as she pulled Sara into an embrace, which Sara reciprocated. Goya's lips met hers, but she kept herself rigid, not wanting to make this any harder than what it already was.

"How have you been?" Sara asked as the two of them strolled down toward the food court, Goya grabbing Sara's hand. Sara bit her lip to suppress her emotion, knowing that it would be one of the last times they would ever do this.

"Quite well aside from missing your arse," Sara grinned despite herself as Goya continued, "I've been working while trying to figure out exactly what I'm doing. But, I'm saving and planning a trip to Earth at somepoint."

"Anywhere in particular?" Sara asked, pretending she knew more of Earth's geography than she really did.

"Australia. It has the oldest culture of humans on earth that I can find, dating back 60,000 years or so. Not, especially old for others but for humans, that's pretty old."

"Prothean times old," Sara agreed, not wanting to admit she didn't quite know where Australia was. Earth geography was something she neither cared about nor needed.

"So, what about you? Alliance business or finally having a well-deserved break?" Goya asked; Sara made a noise in the back of the throat as she decided what she wanted to eat trying to avoid the question. However, her anxiety climbed once more so she simply walked over to the coffee place.

"It's…complicated, and it's why I've asked to talk to you today," Sara admitted as she stepped up to the counter. Goya drifted off to order food of her own; and the two of them met back with their respective orders. Sara was grasping a large iced mocha, despite her dairy intolerance, and Goya with a rather appetising blue-green milky drink. The two of them found a secluded table.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Goya asked noncommittally as she stirred her drink before taking a delicate sip.

"It's…" the words caught in Sara's throat and she took a sip of her drink to try and wash them down before starting again, "have I actually told you why I'm here instead of on some backwater planet knee-deep in mud?"

"Well, no," Goya replied, arching her 'eyebrow'; for a lack of a better word, but in reality, it was a light marking that connected with the ones on her cheeks that ran along where an eyebrow would be.

"So, basically; my father was asked to be a – leader, of sorts, for this ambitious exploration project. Scott and I are going with him."

"That sounds interesting," Goya pressed her fingers against her lips, apparently deep in thought, "I kind of want to slot into this now!"

"The thing about it is-," Sara gulped, _here it comes_ , "you're never going to see me again."

Goya almost choked on her drink, "What? That's a laughable concept. The galaxy is huge, but it's not that huge!"

"No, it's-" Sara took a deep breath, "we're going to Andromeda."

"Andromeda?"

"The galaxy that's closest to ours; it's about 2.5 million light years away."

"You're going to a galaxy that's 2.5 million light years away?" Goya repeated the words, as if trying to make sense of them.

"Yes," Sara felt the emotion tearing at her insides, and wanting to evacuate via her tear ducts, "it's a 600 year journey."

"You're never coming back?"

Goya caught on quickly.

"No."

For the first time since Sara had known her; Goya was lost for words, so Sara ploughed on, fearing the uncomfortable silence, "you will be alive when I reach Andromeda."

"I'll be a matriarch," Goya whispered.

Sara merely nodded, the contents of her stomach churning. Goya pushed her own drink away from her; "I never thought, never _dreamed_ you would ever be alive when I was a matriarch. Yet, you will be and I can't even contact you?"

"I'm so sorry," Sara couldn't help it, the tears began to fall and she desperately wiped them from her face.

"So we don't get our 'happily ever after'?" Goya asked; Sara could see the tears swimming behind her eyes, "why?"

"It was my idea; but it wasn't? I always thought the project would never go ahead. Dad seemed passionate about it, but it never really moved. And then in the last few years everything fell into place. Scott and I had always been listed to go from birth; and we both wanted to go. I just never thought-"

"-it would actually happen," Goya finished her sentence, "why didn't you tell me? I could've listed to go with you."

At this Sara scoffed, "firstly; I wanted this to be in person. It didn't feel right to say this sort of stuff over message. But secondly, Goya, I know you. This is not something you'd want to do. This is a one way trip."

"But-,"

"The only reason you would've come would be for me. And then, I'd be dead after what? 120 years? Then what?"

Goya opened her mouth, but closed it again, "I just wish you had told me sooner."

"I do too," Sara agreed, "that mistake is on me."

"When do you leave?"

"In two weeks."

"Two _weeks?_ " Goya's voice raised an octave.

"We leave for Earth in a week; and then we hang around at Armstrong base on Luna until it's time for us to go."

"We asari, we are used to the idea of only living perhaps a 10th, or a 20th of our lifespan with a partner. But, this is nothing like that. We only had seven years; most asari get longer than that with a vorcha."

"I know," Sara couldn't meet her eyes, and stirred her half-melted drink with her straw.

"And even those seven years, for five of them you've been gone most of the time. Once you go," Goya's voice trembled, "you're gone. It's going to be like you died."

Sara couldn't think of anything to say, so Goya pressed on, "I don't even know what I'm feeling. But, I do know I need to spend as much time with you as I can before you leave."

"I think I'm okay with that," Sara admitted, "I thought you'd be angrier."

"I can't stop you and to be honest I think I'm still in shock. But, I don't want my last memories with you to be angry or bitter."

"Same with me," Sara agreed. Goya held Sara's hand, and Sara didn't reject; they simply sat, not speaking yet communicating all of the feelings they had non-verbally. Eventually Sara realised she had to get moving.

"I was planning to get blind drunk with Scott, if you'd like to join us?" Sara offered.

"I'll pass," Goya gave a small smile, "I need to go and think for a while; but I'll be over in the morning to comfort you when you've got your massive hangover. Just make sure Scott is wearing pants this time."

Sara chuckled, "I'll make sure. See you soon," Sara replied, standing and abandoning her half-full coffee. Goya rose as well, and the two of them embraced once more before parting ways. Her heart ached for the asari, and the tears fell as she watched Goya disappear into the crowd.

xXx

Despite mellowing out in her twenties and developing a disinterest in nightlife; Sara had the most action packed fun week of her life. She and Goya were practically inseparable. They hit up the club, Ryder dancing so much her legs began to hurt; they tried to go to a different restaurant each time they needed food and by night time they would pass out side-by-side yet wake up arm-in-arm.

But the day was drawing ever closer; and Sara startled awake on the day she had to leave. She sat up, Goya's arm still around her waist. She reached for her clothing, and tried not to wake Goya. They had a few hours; but the minute she climbed out of bed Goya was already awake.

"It's today," Goya mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. Sara turned away and pulled into her slacks.

"I know," Sara muttered. The morning was rather uneventful; Scott having his usual large breakfast while Sara's stomach churned too much to digest anything. Goya had not let go of her hand, and still refused to when the three of them walked through the citadel to the docking bay where the ship that was headed to Earth was leaving from.

People were boarding; average everyday looking humans alongside several other alien races. Scott and Sara had requested to not have special transport made, as they would rather make their way with as little fuss as possible. Once they landed on Earth however, a shuttle would be waiting to take them to Luna, which is where they will stay until it was time to leave.

"Our ship leaves in five minutes," Scott said, turning toward Sara and then glancing at Goya, "I'll meet you on the ship sis."

"Okay," Sara replied. Goya's bottom lip was trembling and her eyes swam with tears.

"What am I supposed to say?" Goya whispered, taking Sara's hands and holding them tight in her own.

"You don't have to say anything," Sara replied, the tears swimming in her eyes too, "just, hold me."

They held each other for several seconds; Sara trying to take in as much as she possibly could. Goya cupped her face and their lips met for several longer seconds before she stepped back, and Sara's hands slid from her grasp. She felt cold once she wasn't in Goya's grasp, and took gentle steps toward the ship. She handed the officer her identification, and looked back one last time to see Goya standing stoically, tears sliding down her face.

Sara swallowed, before turning her back on her love and entering the ship. Scott stood waiting at the door, and his face fell when he saw Sara, and she desperately wiped her face, trying to rid the evidence. Scott threw a comforting arm over Sara's shoulders as they walked deeper into the ship.

Times were hard; but hopefully 600 years would give Goya ample time to move on and enjoy her life. For Sara, she would still be in the same stage of grief in that time as unlike Goya, she would not grow and change. She would be exactly the same; same look, same mindset, same everything.

Hopefully the adventure in Andromeda would make this pain worth it.

xXx

Fully dressed and wanting to run for the nearest airlock, Sara sat anxiously in the room she shared with Scott, her tapping leg out of her control. For some reason, everyone had their own rooms except for them. Even fraternal twins of differing genders were considered the same person.

"I feel as nervous as you look," Scott called out as he pulled his shirt on. Sara nodded, knowing that despite his usual relaxed demeanour, her brother was having doubts too. Once in that airlock and cryostasis started there was no going back.

Sara went through her bag again; while every recruit had clothing and toiletries prepared for them, each person was allowed a small bag of personal items to take. Sara rummaged through hers, finding her large collection of music, vids, and e-books. Her vid collection was mainly family memories and famous speeches and moments in history, including Commander Shepard's spectre induction. Her hand brushed again her datapads containing eons of prothean research; useless really but Sara couldn't bear to part with her hard work. Her most prized possession she pulled out, a hardcopy of a photo. She saw her own smiling face staring back at her, arm around Goya who looked infinitely happier then she had a week ago.

A gentle hand found her shoulder, and she looked up to see Scott giving her a sad smile, "you ready?"

"Ready as I'm ever going to be."

Sara got to her feet, and followed Scott out of the room and through the facility. They weren't far from the shuttle; and along with several other people including their father, they were in the shuttle on the way to the Hyperion.

Once they had landed; they began the crawl towards the pod room. It felt like a death march to Sara as her feet carried her though the sterile hallways. They were instructed to give their personal items to staff to place in lockers, in which they would retrieve them when they arrived. Sara reluctantly handed hers over, feeling like she was giving everything she ever was. What they didn't know was she had hidden the picture of her and Goya up her sleeve.

They reached a checkpoint where Alec stood with the staff, "my children; pods 4 and 5," and the staff let them through. Alec grabbed Sara and Scott by the shoulders and held them steadfast for a few moments, "I'll see you in Andromeda; I love you both."

The two of them entered the pod room; where there were thousands of pods lining the walls. Right down the very end were their respective pods. Right next to each other; Sara smiled when she realised she had been given number four.

"Why do I get five?" Scott asked incredulously.

"Because I'm your elder," Sara teased back, trying to use humour to quell her anxiety – her knees were beginning to knock together. They sat on the edge of their pods for a while, merely chatting as more people filed into the room.

However, as people were climbing into the pods; Sara realised that their time in the Milky Way galaxy was up, "well, Scott, this is it."

"It sure is," Scott agreed. The two of them grabbed each other's hand and did the 'bro-fist-handshake' which as Sara thought about it, realised it was really lame. But they had done it since childhood.

Sara climbed into her pod and looked over at Scott who had done the same; they linked eyes, "See you in Andromeda," Sara said.

Scott merely nodded, and Sara lay in her pod, the door going over her, blocking out the sounds. Through the little window she took in as much as possible. Once her eyes closed for more than several seconds, the cryostasis would activate and she would not wake up for 600 years.

She pulled the photo of her and Goya up and held it in front of her eyes; and dorkily gave it a kiss, because no one was going to see or care, before shoving it back up her sleeve. Sara finally relented; and resting her hands on her stomach, closed her eyes; one final thought swimming around her skull:

 _Until Andromeda…_

 ** _I was thinking of writing Scott's version next; same story just differing chapters for the both of them. I'm already in love with both characters, and for the first time I'm considering using the default characters rather than trying to customise. Tiny 'author inserts' include Sara not knowing where Australia is (my home country), and Goya being 190 in 2185. This makes her birth year 1995, which is also my own. Because, I do stuff like that :P_**


	2. Scott's POV

**_Prepare for double trouble! Scott's section is full of angst and shitty jokes; as well as A LOT of adorable sibling moments. I don't have a sibling myself so I apologise if they seem utterly ridiculous; I was more going off what I'd want if I had a sibling! I had a blast writing this; and after re-writing twice I'm happy with the final product. Hope you all enjoy it!_**

 ** _2185  
Milky Way Galaxy_**

 **Scott Ryder**

He was so looking forward to leaving this place forever.

Scott Ryder sat at the table in the mess hall; idly picking up his porridge and watching it dribble off of the spoon and back into the bowl. Soldiers and staff chatted around him while he sat alone, unenthused about the entire thing. Every day was the same here; have breakfast, stand guard, get breaks, deal with shitty people, finish for the day and then doing it all over again the next day.

He tired of the shitty routine, and this had been his life for four years; on and off. In his downtime he vacationed wherever he could, but mostly enjoyed going back to his home. The Citadel was where he and his twin sister Sara had been born, and the closest thing that he had to a home. His parents' apartment held many happy memories, and the majority of those involved Sara.

"So I'm being considered for the N7 program," a voice carried over from another table, and Scott perked up. The advantage of not talking to anyone meant he listened to everything. He knew nearly everyone's business simply through eavesdropping.

"Oh yeah?" a second voice said, "That's a remarkable achievement! Well done!"

"Thanks man," the first voice replied, "if they accept it I should ship out in a week or so."

Scott drummed his fingers on the table, pushing his breakfast away from him. He grit his teeth in annoyance. He was stuck here on this space station while other people came and went around him. Nearly everyone here now had not been here when he had started four years ago; they had found bigger and better things to move on to. Not him, though. No, he was stuck doing the same boring shit day-in and day-out.

He sighed, and grabbed his tray. Dumping it onto the wash-bay he stepped away from the mess and into the corridor outside. Two young female staff members were walking in front of him.

"So, Scott Ryder?"

He froze; the women obviously didn't know he was behind them. He slowed his steps, trying to keep out of range so they wouldn't hear his footsteps but also wanting to be close enough to hear their conversation.

"Yeah, he seems nice enough," a woman replied, the blonde one. The brunette merely made a noise in the back of her throat.

"He never speaks," she scoffed, "I mean, he does and he has 'beat around the bush' before if you catch my drift."

Shit, he didn't realise that everyone had heard of his one-night-stands. He'd only screwed two women on this station as a 'one-night' thing, but of course everyone knew about it, just as he knew everyone else's business.

"He's also been here for quite a number of years; I guess Alec doesn't want to be overtaken in reputation by his own son."

"Please, he's only got this job because of his father," the blonde said, "like I said; seems nice enough but doesn't strike me as an over-achiever."

Not wanting to hear anymore of his unsavoury reputation, he roughly shoved between the two women and stormed off, much to their surprise. He stopped by to obtain his weapon, an assault rifle before stepping in to work.

He didn't care what they thought; those two would be dead not even half-way into his Andromeda journey. Andromeda was the only thing keeping him sane in this place, and he was itching to get going; the idea of exploring a new galaxy excited him to the core. He finally had a chance to step away from his father's shadow and become his own man. He was leaving very shortly; today in fact after his shift was done. His last shift, he couldn't believe the day had come.

He rounded the corner and stood in his usual spot; his job was to guard the staff from harm as people came to try and make contact with Arcturus station, or sought approval to go through to the Sol system. It acted as customs for the Sol system.

Idiots made their way in sometimes; requesting to make contact with Alliance officials or to go through to Earth. Even worse were the children of military families, using their rank to try and be difficult. Scott pulled the same tactics as a youngster, but now it just grated him.

The worst were aliens who attempted to act as tourists to try and pass through but really were up to something illegal. He loved aliens; and had an alien buddy or two during school, but god it was frustrating. Batarians seemed to be the main culprits; idiotic slave raiders trying to get through to Earth to kidnap humans. Of course, they never got through because what sane batarian wanted to go to Earth for a holiday?

The stupid ones came onto the station in person, yelling at anyone who would pay attention to them to let them through, or even bringing a human slave with them to convince the team to let them through. Scott usually stepped in the middle of these situations. Usually one smack from the butt of his gun worked wonders and the batarians would run off, tail between their legs – metaphorically speaking. He also found threatening to scoop their eyeballs out got them running. He'd lost count at the number of people they'd manage to free from batarian clutches because those batarians were particularly stupid.

But this day was boring, seemingly to grate on his nerves because it knew he was counting down the seconds until his shift ended. His break passed too quickly; and he found himself back in the same position as before. His fingers drummed absent-mindedly on his assault rifle as he stared out, but squeals of excitement caught his attention. A young human family had stepped out of an airlock.

The family approached, evidently wanting clearance to go through to the rest of the galaxy. Scott found himself smiling watching the two children; a boy who looked around ten and a girl no older than seven. The boy continued to harass the girl, and her growing irritability was betrayed by the redness in her chubby cheeks.

Scott sniggered; the children reminded him of himself and his twin sister Sara. He couldn't remember how many times he and Sara had been in situations like this; and often since Alec was famous they'd be around a lot longer as Alec had an in-depth conversation with everyone he could possibly find. Through his boredom as a boy he would bother her. His jabs and pokes were so subtle she would be the one that'd blow up in a fit of rage and hysteria; usually in front of someone important. Alec's lecture was always the same, 'you're the elder, be mature'. Sara would usually snap that she was only older by three minutes. But, at that age Scott felt she rubbed it in so much she deserved to be yelled at occasionally.

"Ryder!"

"Sir!" Scott snapped to attention as his supervisor stepped toward him; a gruff man. Aside from Scott, his supervisor was probably the longest-serving member on the station.

"You're off duty. Thank you for your four years of service."

"You're welcome sir," Scott replied, thrusting his weapon back in its holster, and rolling out his stiff muscles.

"And Ryder," his supervisor continued, "I hope everything goes well for you in your future endeavours."

"Thank you," Scott saluted, and then gave the man a handshake. He travelled through the station to his quarters. This place, while small with white sterile walls, was his home. It felt weird to think that someone else would be sleeping in his bed, calling his room home. He sat on said bed, staring at the one photo he had left on his desk.

He reached his hand out, and fumbled in mid-air, trying to find the photo frame with his biotics. Once the dark energy found its way to the target, he gently gave it a tug and it slammed into his chest.

"Oof," he whispered as he fumbled for the photo frame. The photo contained his father, mother, sister and himself. It was of the day they had enlisted. Scott sighed, standing to place the photo into his bag – the last of his belongings he hadn't packed.

Scott never really knew what he wanted to do with his life, which is how he'd ended up in this shitty job. While his sister had been the one with the rebellious streak, he had always remained level headed throughout his adolescence and young adulthood. In many ways it bugged him that his rebellious sister had the dream life, while he struggled to find his place in the universe. He studied hard, and knew he wanted to do something important in the military 'just like his father'. After all, he and Sara had received specialist military training from a tutor.

It was always to do with his father; so many people always asked him "are you planning to follow in your father's footsteps?" it bothered him. He was either grouped with Sara as the same person, or compared to Alec.

He didn't have his own identity; when he had turned eighteen he had enlisted because, well, that's what he knew Alec wanted him to do; and Scott really had no idea what he was doing. Alec was the one to land him this position, and Scott hated it. He wanted to extend his biotic capabilities, to practice with elite soldiers. But, no. He was never approved for that sort of work. Every time he applied he was denied, and he knew exactly why. Alec wanted to keep his children away from the front lines.

That's why Sara had her job helping with prothean ruins. Luckily for Sara that was a field she was interested in; because she always had been a massive dork. Her rebellious streak wasn't even that rebellious. Scott caught her once, making out with a young woman named Emily in what Sara thought was a secluded part of the Citadel. The earful he had received had almost sent him deaf, and nearly sent Emily running for cover. She later admitted to Alec (well screamed, Scott heard it from his room) that she had had ryncol with krogans while underage. Even then, she wasn't doing illegal drugs or being a total moron – she was being Sara; a giant dork, even in her 'bad girl' years.

Yet her life was way more stable and fulfilling than his. Despite almost 'slandering' the Ryder name a few times (a huge exaggeration if anyone asked him), she had found her passion and the love of her life, a young asari named Goya.

He had nothing in comparison to what Sara had with Goya. None of his relationships had even been serious. His few relationships had always been casual and never were going to end up anywhere. His first girlfriend whom he had at fourteen found him way too boring and decided to get out as fast as possible. Others he just hadn't clicked with. Often he felt he was cursed love-wise; considering Sara got lucky first time.

Sara had her shit together, while he didn't. In many ways he resented the fact Sara didn't have the same pressure from Alec than he did. Being a girl did have advantages.

Bleeping from his omni-tool pulled Scott into reality, and he glanced down to see that his scheduled lift to the Citadel was due to leave in twenty minutes. He swung his bag over his shoulder and exited the room; giving it one final sweep before closing the door on it forever.

He took measured steps over to the shuttle that would take him home. He flashed his identification, and found a seat a little way aways from everyone else. He leant back, a grin taking over his face. He was never coming back to this place.

For now, he was going home.

xXx

Scott flicked through the novel he was reading, lounging easily on the couch of his parents' apartment on the Citadel. The urge to go out and drink was high; but he had promised Sara he would wait. She was due back soon, surely telling Goya shouldn't take four hours.

His book however was proving to be a frustrating matter. The stupid program he used wasn't co-operating and had lost his page. He groaned when he couldn't find where he was up to.

"Stupid piece of shit," he muttered as he continued to flick though, but realising that he didn't recognise what was going on and then accidentally read that his favourite character had died, "Fuck! I've just spoilt it! God you stupid piece of shit," and he biotically threw the datapad across the room.

"Spoilt what?"

His head shot up to see his sister had entered the apartment. Sara's eyes were red and puffy, and her sniffles were audible even though she was across the room.

"The ending of my book, stupid program," he muttered, but jumped up from the couch, "you were gone a while," he mentioned casually.

"I went for a walk," Sara shrugged, not making eye contact with him.

"Did you tell her?"

"I did," Sara replied, "she wasn't exactly thrilled."

"I'm sorry sis," Scott replied gently, continuing to take measured steps toward her. He was used to comforting her; Sara cried every time she had to leave the Citadel to go on another dig, another so many months without Goya. But this time, it was forever. Scott couldn't imagine leaving someone you cared about so much behind, pretty much everyone he loved was coming to Andromeda.

"Do you still want to go out?"

Sara shook her head, "anything here?"

"We shall see," Scott rubbed his hands together, "I wonder what alcohol Mum and Dad have stashed around!"

Sara rolled her eyes as Scott rummaged through the kitchen cupboards; his hand found a bottle and he pulled it out, "aha!" he cried.

"What is it?" Sara asked, leaning over the kitchen counter.

Scott wiped the dust off of the label, "Serrice Ice Brandy?"

Sara whistled, "That's expensive shit."

"Fuck it," Scott declared, finding two brandy glasses and pouring the blue liquid into them, "Mum and Dad aren't coming back here; and neither are we. Drink up!"

"Yes sir," Sara mock saluted, and held the glass to her lips, but lowered it before taking a sip, "and by the way Goya said she'd be round tomorrow and requested that you wear pants this time."

Scott spat out the mouthful of brandy he'd just had; spraying it over Sara. He laughed at Goya's request and Sara's misfortune of being covered in alcohol. Sara wiped at her face and flicked the liquid to her side, narrowing her eyes.

"Sorry?" Scott said, shrugging his shoulders while pouring himself more brandy. Sara rolled her eyes good-naturedly while continuing to sip her alcohol.

"Oh! I've got an idea! Let's watch the most recent Blasto movie – and every time Blasto says 'this one' we take a shot!" Sara chirped.

"How drunk are you?" Scott laughed.

"Sober as shit, but I want to forget our worries by watching Blasto and drinking until we can't see," Sara replied.

"Fine then," Scott gave in. Sara turned on the TV; she flicked through her omni-tool to find the movie and synced it to the TV. Scott settled in to the corner of the couch, while Sara lounged herself over the rest of the couch to tune in to the movie.

Not even an hour in and Scott's head was swimming from the effects of the brandy; he'd lost count at the amount of times that 'this one' had been uttered, and he and Sara were now taking shots over the stupidest things.

"That asari was blueeeeeeeee! Shot!" Sara shouted out, her words slurring together. Scott swigged at his drink, emptying his glass for the umpteenth time. He reached for the bottle, and the brandy swished inside.

"A batarian with four eyeeeeees! Shot!" Sara cried out, taking a swig out of an empty glass.

"We've drunk so much," Scott murmured, putting his eye close to peer inside. Then a sharp pain had greeted his eyeball, and looking up he saw Sara had pushed the bottle against his eye; and was giggling uncontrollably.

"Sara…whyyyy?" he slurred the last word, dropping the bottle to free both hands to express his annoyance; the bottle rolled off of the couch and onto the floor, where the rest of the brandy seeped into the carpet.

"Shit bro," Sara hiccoughed, "you've poured 100 – hic – credits worth of stuff on the floor…good going."

"We're outta booze," Scott replied, "reckon we can – hic – buy some?"

"Nahhhhhh," Sara said, leaning forward and face-planting into the couch, "unless we can deliver?"

"I don't know…" Scott whispered, leaning to the side and losing his balance and ending up on the floor, "Sara. Sara get down here."

"Whyyyyy?" Sara swallowed her hiccup as she thumped onto the floor beside Scott, her head narrowly missing the empty bottle.

"I don't know…" Scott repeated, staring up at the ceiling. They simply lay beside each other, random bouts of giggling frequently occurring, as well as pointing at the ceiling and realising things existed. Scott felt his eyelids growing heavy, and fell into a drunken slumber on the lounge-room floor, his sister hiccoughing by his side.

xXx

The week on Armstrong flew by, and was full of information about Andromeda, combat preparation and hours and hours of information sessions. It was the very last night, and Scott was unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep; his heart continued to race and stopped him from drifting off. He flipped over onto his other side, and saw Sara was wide awake and reading a datapad.

"Sara; what are you doing?" Scott asked, rubbing his eyes and sitting up.

"Can't sleep; or more like I don't want to sleep. It's our last night in the Milky Way, and I'm sitting in a windowless room 'resting up'. I'm about to sleep for 600 years, I don't need to sleep now."

"Let's do something!" Scott perked up, realising his sister was right. Sara sat up, flicking her legs over the bed.

"Actually I've an idea!" her face lit up as she bounced onto her feet, "the Earth is really pretty at this time!" Sara said, grabbing Scott by the wrist and dragging him out of bed.

"Okay then?" Scott laughed as he let himself be pulled along. They tiptoed through the corridor, trying to not wake anyone. Scott pulled Sara back as a guard passed the corridor they were hiding in. Military rules died hard, and they had no idea if they were supposed to be awake and wandering around.

Finally they reached the door, and emerged outside. Scott paused for a second before taking a deep breath. The sight of space always freaked him out, but he remembered they were encased in a terraformed dome and not going to be sucked into a vacuum. They stepped onto the crusty surface of Luna.

"Look," Sara smiled. The sight of the planet greeted his eyes; the planet that called his species home, even though he didn't personally.

"Wow, no wonder why they call it the Blue Marble," Scott hummed, in awe at the sight before him.

"It makes me nostalgic for a planet I've never called home," Sara commented, "I'm still in shock that we'll never see this again; any of this."

"Well you'll get to see _this_ ," Scott teased, indicating himself. Sara rolled her eyes good-naturedly and punched him playfully in the stomach.

"That's the only thing that's keeping me going," Sara returned to seriousness, "that you and Dad will be there. I couldn't do this without you."

Scott met Sara's gaze; his own eyes staring back at him, and he sighed. In truth, she had far more to lose then he did. Scott was losing nothing, and gaining everything in return. He left a job he hated, and about to have new adventures in a completely new, unexplored galaxy.

He just hoped he would be able to leave his father's shadow.

Wordlessly, he threw an arm around Sara's shoulders and the two of them stood in silence, continuing to watch the Earth. The last night in a galaxy that he had never truly felt at home in, staring at a planet he had no real feeling toward. At least he had one of the people he held very dear right next to him.

Maybe Andromeda would be his place; where he would be able to step out and form an identity for himself, meeting aliens who didn't know his name and how important his father was.

"What are you looking forward to most?" Sara asked abruptly, as if she could read his thoughts.

"Hm, I don't know," Scott replied carefully, "I think being in a galaxy where I can have a fresh start. I need a second beginning."

"Nice outlook," Sara smiled, "I think for me it has to be the new civilisations I can study; that'll make it worth it."

"You're a massive nerd," Scott suppressed his laughter as Sara pulled away and pouted at him, hands on hips.

"And you're an ass," she teased, giving him a gentle shove. He retaliated by trying to ruffle her hair, which she dodged easily. She punched him in the shoulder, and he whipped around and used his biotics to slow her movement.

"Hey! No fair!" Sara protested, trying to fight off the dark energy that had encased her form. He pulled her into a headlock, and ruffled her hair. Sara vigorously pulled against his grasp, and probably would've managed to free herself if he hadn't had biotics aiding him.

"What are you two doing?" a gruff voice came out of the silence.

Scott and Sara both turned toward the sound, and saw a silhouetted form standing at the open doorway. Scott unwound his arm and stood at his full height, while Sara fixed her ponytail which had gone lopsided.

Alec Ryder stepped forward, still intimidating despite being in pyjamas, "what are you two doing?" he repeated.

"Uhh," Scott rubbed at the back of his neck, while Sara had become obsessed with her shoes; Alec's eyes narrowed slightly, "we didn't want to sleep," Scott admitted, tripping over his words.

"You should-," Alec began but Sara interrupted.

"C'mon Dad, we're about to sleep for 600 years. I think we can spend our last night awake."

Alec rolled his eyes, "you two are twenty-two but act like you're twelve."

"Hey! That's not fair! Sara's the one that's twelve, not me!" Scott replied. His arm twinged from the punch he had received from Sara.

"Ass," she mumbled and he laughed at her.

Alec sighed from gritted teeth; "what were you doing before your wrestling match?" Alec marched between them, and his eyes found the Earth, "ah."

"Where are you from again Dad?" Sara asked.

"I grew up in the Sierra Nevada region; North America," Alec explained.

"Yeeeah I don't know where that is," Sara admitted, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

"You can recite the prothean alphabet backwards but don't know where North America is?" Scott scoffed.

"Look," Sara began, "I was kinda hopeless at geography."

"Do you know where any Earth city or country is?" Alec turned on Sara, whose cheeks were tinged pink.

"London is in the Southern Hemisphere right?"

Alec groaned and smacked a hand to his face while Scott roared with laughter. Sara folded her arms and pouted, her face now bright red.

"It's weird to think you can remember a time before we knew other races existed, just changing subject," Scott vocalised his thoughts. At this Alec laughed.

"It _is_ rather strange. If you had told me when I was young that my children would be born on the hub of galactic civilisation, I would've laughed in your face," Alec said, "but it is rather cool that I grew up in a time when we thought we were alone."

There was a long silence, Scott looked up to Earth again, marvelling at the idea of living in such a vast galaxy and not being able to access any of it, not realising that it exists. The fact that humans believed they were the only thing in the universe, that Earth was the only planet that was inhabitable; Scott shook his head to comprehend it all.

"Are you kids excited?" Alec asked seriously, his steel-grey eyes flicking between Scott and Sara.

"I'm scared," Sara admitted. Scott peered around Alec to look, and she did look as if she had paled slightly.

"I know you had to give up a lot; both of you," he added, "I know you had to say goodbye to Goya, and your job which you loved," the last sentence was directed at Sara. Scott grit his teeth, he knew Alec loved them equally, but Scott was smart enough to click on that Sara was 'dad's little girl'.

Part of him wanted to stay, let Sara and Alec go on while he stay here and move out of his father's shadow; but even as he thought about it he knew that was a stupid idea. Everyone would still recognise he was Alec's son, and he couldn't bear his family leaving him behind, him six-feet-under and a forgotten memory when they awoke.

"I'm excited," Scott blurted out.

"Not scared?" Alec enquired.

"No," Scott half-lied, "I feel like this is something I was born to do."

Alec looked him up and down, "good," he said simply, a hint of a smile on his face, "unlike you sprightly young people, an old man needs his rest. So I shall bid you two goodnight; I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night Dad," Sara said and they watched him retreat back inside, the door closing behind him. Their eyes met and they both burst out laughing; their voices echoing in the still air. Eventually the laughter died away, and the silence filled it once more.

"Well, I'm glad that I'm going on this journey with you Sara," Scott confessed, "and Dad."

"Awwwh that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Sara teased.

"I mean who else would I go on this journey with?"

"Exactly," Sara replied, grinning. Scott gave her a playful shove.

"Even though you're a massive pain in the ass, you're my best friend and I'm glad we can continue to cause a ruckus in an entirely different galaxy!"

"And you say I'm the dork!" Sara cried, "That was the dorkiest thing I've ever heard! But, it's true! Watch out Andromeda aliens; Sara and Scott are coming to wreak havoc!"

"And by havoc we mean really bad jokes!"

"Hey, my jokes are good," Sara replied, clutching her chest in a sarcastic way, "I'm offended!"

"Prepare for trouble-," Scott began.

And Sara followed up with, "-and make it double!"

"Is that going to be our catch phrase?"

Sara gave it some thought, "Yeah, I think so."

"I'm glad we have our catch phrase figured out," Scott agreed as they began to walk toward the edge of the dome. Scott's smile slid off his face as he pressed his hand to the glass, and stared at Earth. Sara joined him, and that's the moment Scott wanted to last forever; just he and his sister staring at their people's homeworld.

Maybe in 600 years' time they'd re-create this moment, and stare at their planet they would call home; Scott had the same thought repeating in his head:

 _Until Andromeda…_

 ** _Well that's Scott's section! Also, I've never been drunk in my life so I'm hoping that was actually somewhat believable. I'm really wanting to write more, but I'm not sure what just yet. I think in order to write in Andromeda I'll have to wait for the game to come out so I know what is going on! Until Andromeda!_**


End file.
